The Year in Robotics

The Year in Robotics

This year was also notable for big advances in grasping technology: simple, fast systems that let robots grab new objects quickly and robustly, using relatively simple hands. Such systems could help improve stand-alone robots and prosthetics. Researchers at Columbia University found that by giving a robotic hand the same limits in dexterity as a human hand, they could make a more efficient device (“Helping Robots Get a Grip”). A group at Harvard and Yale universities also found value in simplicity: its soft plastic hand–embedded with just a few sensors–could pick up unknown objects using a flexible grip (“A Simpler, Gentler Robotic Grip”). A new implant could also bring improvements by giving patients unprecedented control over fine movements of prosthetics ( “Seamlessly Melding Man and Machine”).

Boston Dynamics, the engineering company behind BigDog, gave a stunning demonstration this year of its realistic, two-legged Petman robot, which the military will use to test chemical suits (“Meet BigDog’s Two-Legged Brother”).

Other robots for home and work also made advances in mobility; a robot developed by a consortium in Europe uses a system based on how a person processes visual information to navigate a cluttered environment. The technology could one day be used for a smart wheelchair (“A Robot that Navigates Like a Person”). Another robot from Brown University learned how to follow a person at a set distance, almost like a well-trained dog, by using a new, infrared image-recognition program (“Robot Plays Follow the Leader”).